Always Good to Hate You
by let's give this another try
Summary: Wilhelmina realizes something surprising as Daniel contemplates leaving Mode. One-shot. Reviews are much appreciated; I read every single one!


Hello again everyone. After watching last Friday's episode, the one where Betty and Hilda have their pregnancy scares, I was glad to-finally-see some scenes with Daniel and Wilhelmina together again. Eric Mabius and Vanessa Williams really have great on-screen chemistry, and they look like they're having a blast playing off each other, and it inspires me to keep writing. So I hope you all enjoy this.

*****

"I hope you enjoyed the tour of our offices. If you have any questions, I'm all ears" Claire said, smiling at Scott Mannheim. The middle aged man smiled back at her, putting his hands in his jacket pocket.

"No, I've enjoyed it all immensely. It's good to see you again, Claire" he said, rubbing her arm. She blushed at the slender, grey-haired gentleman.

"Oh, thank you." She was about to continue when Daniel rushed past them.

"Daniel!" she called spinning around. He turned, looking as though he had hoped to avoid conversation. "Yes?"

"I want to you to meet Scott Mannheim, founder of 'Sashay' Magazine. Scott, this is my son, Daniel. "

"Pleased to make your acquaintance" he said to Daniel. Cal poked his head around the corner behind them.

"Claire, could I speak with you for a moment?" he asked pleasantly. She turned back to Daniel and Mannheim. "If you could excuse me for a moment" she said, walking away. The two men nodded at her. Daniel was about to politely excuse himself when Mannheim spoke.

"You know, I've heard quite a lot about you. You have a solid reputation as a sound Editor who makes good decisions."

Daniel smiled. "Well, thank you, I wasn't aware-"

"In fact," Mannheim interrupted, "I've had my eye on you for a while now. The position of Editor-in-Chief was recently vacated at Sashay and I was looking to see if you were available."

Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Um, well, not exactly, I mean-"

Mannheim slapped him kindly on the arm. "Give it some thought. I would like to inform you, however, that you would earn considerably more at Sashay and you would receive more vacation time than you are currently granted. You would have to share the position like you do here at Mode, but it wouldn't be with Wilhelmina Slater, who, if I'm not mistaken, you're not too keen on." Mannheim made his way toward the elevator and pressed the button. "Call me if you'd like to spend a week at Sashay, to sort of test drive the position, if you will" he said as the elevator doors closed on him.

Daniel stood, still gaping when Claire returned. "What's wrong, Daniel?"

He slowly turned to her. "Mannheim just offered me a job."

Claire, Cal and Wilhelmina were standing in Daniel's office.

"Daniel, you cannot be serious! Thinking about leaving Mode, are you insane?" Claire asked, her voice rising.

Wilhelmina turned to Daniel. "You know, Daniel, in spite of your mother's obvious contempt for your desire to rise in the business world, I fully support your decision to leave" she smirked.

"I never said anything about leaving, Wilhelmina" he said coolly.

"_Exactly_," Claire cut in, "and if, God forbid, he does, you bet your ass we'll put someone else in his place. No way are you going to be Editor-in-Chief of this magazine by yourself."

Daniel leaned back in his chair. "You know, mom, Mannheim did say that I could just spend a week at Sashay to see what it's like, it's nothing serious."

Claire threw her hands in the air. "Did you not hear me, Daniel? What about everything you have here?!"

"I know, I know, but maybe I want to step outside the box, try something different; something that doesn't involve having to fight with Wilhelmina or stand my ground against Cal."

Cal smirked from the corner of the room. Claire was stunned. Wilhelmina looked at Daniel. "Again, my full support" she said. He rolled his eyes.

Claire put her hands at her sides. "Fine, do whatever you want. Test drive the position, take it-hell, move out of the country for all I care." She paused, looking at her son. "Don't forget where your loyalty lies while you're shooting for the stars" she hissed, turning on her heel and leaving with Cal, who couldn't have looked more pleased to hear the news.

Daniel sighed. Wilhelmina folded her arms and cocked her head. "Well, it seems mommy dearest isn't so supportive of your dreams."

He looked at Wilhelmina. "The only reason you give a damn is because you want me out of here" he said, sitting at his desk.

"Yeah, and you want out of here to get away from me. Why not make us both happy for once?" she asked, turning and leaving him.

Daniel sighed and rubbed his hair with his hand. He sat in silence for a few seconds, and then picked up the phone. He dialed and waited for someone to answer.

"Yes, this is Daniel Meade from Mode; I was calling to talk to Scott Mannheim,"

"Oh, yes, Daniel, how can I help you?" Mannheim purred through the receiver.

*****

Daniel stepped off the elevator and into the lobby of the fourth floor. He looked around, taking in the surroundings. "So this is what Sashay Magazine looks like" he thought, glad he'd satisfied his curiosity.

"Daniel!" called a friendly voice.

Daniel turned to his left to see Mannheim gracefully sliding toward him. He extended his hand.

"I'm glad you've decided to take me up on my offer after all. You know, I wasn't so sure when I spoke with you this morning, but I think you'll find you made the right choice."

Daniel swallowed. "Well, it wasn't easy. There were a lot of people who-"

"Could've been more supportive? Listen, Daniel, I know this is difficult for you. But I think that you wouldn't have called me if you didn't feel the same way about your current position at Mode as I do. Great magazine; always has been. But let's face it; you're not exactly living the life you could be living here."

Daniel shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not really interested in money. I was born into it. I just want to know…what I'm capable of doing. I guess I'm trying to prove to myself and everyone that I am a good editor. I'm tired of being labeled as the rich kid who danced his way into his father's company; I think I've grown."

Mannheim nodded understandingly. "Of course you have. We all want to prove we're something. But I hope that you do decide to stay with us; I guarantee we'll make this worth your while."

Daniel smiled and followed Mannheim around the office as he introduced Daniel to his new world.

*****

"Oh my God, Willie, this is amazing!!" Marc squealed joyously, hopping up and down like a gleeful little boy at Christmas.

Wilhelmina leaned back in her chair and smiled up at him. "It is divine, isn't it? Daniel Meade, finally gone and out of my hair; of course, I was hoping that I'd get the position all to myself, but hopefully I'll be lucky enough to work with someone whose fashion sense and attractiveness almost equals mine."

"Why not someone whose attractiveness equals yours?" Marc asked, confused.

Wilhelmina glared at him. "Have you ever met anyone whose face and body could stand up to this?"

Marc pressed his lips together and shook his head vigorously. "No, no of course not; in fact, I'm starting to believe that's almost impossible."

"Hmmmm" Wilhelmina said, shooting him one last look. She turned her head to the left, noticing two loud voices coming from Daniel's office. She got up from her chair and looked through the glass window that connected her office to his and saw Betty wildly waving her arms at Daniel.

"Looks like somebody heard the good news" Wilhelmina purred to Marc. They stood side-by-side, watching as Betty kept yelling, Daniel hopelessly trying to calm her. Suddenly, Claire appeared beside Betty and joined her in reprimanding Daniel. Marc was giggling until Amanda called his name. He quickly scampered off toward her, leaving Wilhelmina to relish the scene.

She laughed quietly to herself. "Well, well, well, Daniel; it looks like this sudden burst of ambition has cost you your friends. Now you know what it's like to be me" she said, turning away from the window and walking to her desk, trying to imagine a Daniel-less world.

*****

Daniel's shoes tapped across the tiled floor of Sashay Magazine the next morning. He had been trying to forget his argument with Betty. "I'm not really abandoning anyone," he tried to reason with himself, "why can't I just do what I want to for once?"

He was greeted by Mannheim who pulled Daniel gently by the arm. "Come, I have someone you should meet. The woman you'll be sharing the Editor-in-Chief position with."

Daniel had to admit he was excited. Maybe she would be gorgeous, like something out of Playboy spread. He followed Mannheim into the woman's office and raised his eyes to look at her. His face fell. She was short and stout, with a pinched face and a bobbed haircut that did nothing to help the poor genes she'd obviously inherited. She glared at Daniel with a ruthlessness he'd never even seen in Wilhelmina's face.

"Daniel, I'd like you to meet Ellie Hades, your co-Editor-in-Chief. Ellie, this is Daniel."

Daniel extended a hand toward her. "Pleased to meet you" he said, doing his best to smile at her. "God, I've never seen anyone so ugly" he thought to himself. She looked at him repulsed.

"So this is the idiot I have to share my position with?" she asked, turning to Mannheim. "He doesn't even deserve to share an ass wipe with a monkey."

"Holy crap," Daniel thought to himself, "she's the verbal equivalent of Wilhelmina." He looked her up and down, taking in her severe grey suit and shoes. "Too bad she's not nearly as attractive to look at" he thought sadly.

Mannheim laughed at Ellie. "Now, now, I told you you'll have to play nice with him. He's a good man; just give him a chance to prove it to you."

With that, Mannheim left to the two of them alone together. Daniel watched him go and slowly turned back to Ellie. She slowly brought her face closer to his. "Listen boy," she hissed, letting the smell of cigarette slide off her breath, "you better stay away from me or we'll have a bigger problem than we already do." She slowly turned and walked back to her desk, wheeling her chair around and facing the window so that he was face-to-face with the back of her head.

Daniel sighed and left. "It's going to be a long first day" he thought glumly.

*****

Wilhelmina quickly made her way to Claire's office. Cal had told her that Daniel's replacement had arrived and she was eager to see if he was anything better than him. "Not that that would be all that hard" she thought, smirking to herself. She rounded the corner and stepped into Claire's office.

"Alright, where is he?" she asked, looking at a repulsive older man standing next to Cal and Claire. "Must be his assistant" she thought.

Claire stepped forward and smiled, gently pushing the little man toward Wilhelmina. "Wilhelmina, I'd like you to meet Franz Holmberg, Daniel's replacement."

Wilhelmina was stunned. She looked down at the man before her; he was all of four feet tall, with small round glasses, a five o'clock shadow, and no more than five grey hairs on his head. He looked her up and down and wrinkled his face. "Well, you look quite the bitch" he said.

Wilhelmina turned back to Claire. "You've _got_ to be kidding me" she said.

Claire's smile widened. "Oh not at all; Franz is an old friend and I think he'll do a good job of keeping you in check."

Wilhelmina turned back to Franz who was glaring at her. "I don't care who you think you are you're not going to boss me around" he said coolly.

Claire smiled at him. "Good job, Franz" she said, leading him away. Wilhelmina watched them go and sucked in an annoyed breath.

"Damn, I got stuck with an ugly carbon cop of Meade."

*****

Daniel made his way into the conference room at Sashay, followed by Ellie, Mannheim, and the rest of the art department. He had been there three days and was about to endure his first meeting with everyone and he was nervous. After Mannheim introduced him, he asked if anyone had ideas to pitch for the March issue. Daniel stood slowly.

"Oh, well, I was thinking that Giselle Bundchen for the cover; she just had a baby and an interview with her would-"

"Oh, _please_" interrupted Ellie. She stood up; or, at least, Daniel thought she did. She was so short it was hard to tell. "No way are we putting her on the cover, she's already on everything else. I think I have a can of peas at home with her face on it."

Daniel bit his lower lip but decided to be polite. "Well, alright, Ellie, who were you thinking of?"

"Kate Hudson."

"Kate Hudson? Are you serious; as if she's not everywhere too?!"

"Don't yell at me just because you're upset that you don't have the mental capacities required to think of it first" Ellie shot back.

Daniel rolled his eyes and shook his head. "This could not get any worse," he thought to himself, "I make a move to get away from Wilhelmina, and I end up with a lady as old as Rome who can't even brush the smell of tobacco from her breath, and happens to be, if it's even possible, worse than Willie."

Daniel looked at Mannheim and gave him a pleading, 'help me' look. Mannheim simply lifted himself from his chair and looked back at him. "Sorry, Daniel, but I'm siding with Ellie on this one." He turned to her. "Call Hudson and make an appointment with her people."

Everyone started to file out of the room. Daniel walked up to Mannheim. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I think it's a little unfair that I've been pitching ideas ever since I got here and not one has gotten accepted. In fact, every one of Ellie's suggestions has made it into the March issue."

Mannheim smiled back at him. "Don't worry, my boy, your time will come" he said, walking away and leaving Daniel alone to wonder whether he'd made the right decision after all.

*****

"This is completely ridiculous, Claire" Wilhelmina said, jumping from her chair. She was 15 minutes into a meeting to discuss the March issue and Franz had been hurling stupid ideas since he'd entered the room. "There is no way we're putting Fergie on the cover of Mode; for God's sakes, we've got _standards_" she said, shooting Franz and death ray glare. He rolled his egg-yolk eyes in return, causing Wilhelmina to curl her lips in disgust. "That's exactly what Daniel would do," she thought, "except with less sickening eyes."

Claire smiled condescendingly at Wilhelmina. "I'm sorry, Wilhelmina, but we don't really want Adriana Lima. Fergie is a perfect choice" she said, looking lovingly at Franz. Wilhelmina gagged.

"Isn't she? I would've gotten Kate Hudson, but her people said she was already taken" Franz said.

Everyone began filing out of the conference room. Wilhelmina turned on her heel and marched down the hall toward her office. So far, her Daniel-less world was turning out to be a surprising nightmare. She thought that she'd gotten what she wanted. She sat down at her desk and checked the time. 5:23. "No reason I can't leave a little early," she thought, grabbing her things and heading for the elevator, "I think there's someone I have to go see."

*****

Daniel was about to take a bite of his Ramen noodle soup when he heard a knock on his door. Reluctantly, he got up from his place on the couch and opened it.

"Wilhelmina?" he asked in surprise.

She looked him up and down. "Hmm, Ramen noodles and boxers, what a winning combination."

He looked at himself and blushed slightly. "What do you want?"

She cocked her brow. "Can I at least come in first? I don't want anyone to get word that I set foot in this kind of building."

He rolled his eyes but opened the door wider, stepping to the side as she stalked past him, the scent of her Tom Ford perfume teasing his nose. He closed it and turned to see that she was looking around his apartment with an expression of sheer horror on her face.

"Tell me, when you finish your supper, do you have to knock on the walls to alert the mice, or do you just throw the bowl on the floor and let them have at it?"

Daniel shoved past her and seated himself on his sofa. "Did you come here for any reason other than to criticize everything about my choice of home and dinner?" he asked, watching the game on TV. She reached for the remote and shut it off.

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, this won't take long and your brain might smarten up not being connected to that dribble 24-7" she said, crossing her arms.

Daniel sighed, placed his dinner on the coffee table, and leaned back on the sofa. He looked up at her with his baby blue eyes set in a quizzical expression. "Fine; what do you need?"

"I need you back at Mode."

Daniel was so shocked he actually sprung forward off the couch and rested his arms on his knees. "You what?!"

This time it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You heard me, Daniel. I didn't think it was possible, but I'm actually having a worse time than I was when you were around."

Daniel's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "You're kidding. You spent all our time together mocking me, teasing me, insulting me, making me feel like a four-year old, and now you want to me come crawling back on hands and knees because _you're_ unhappy?"

"Yes, Daniel. Your mom and Cal have hired a person more incapable of handling your job than you were, and I'm about this close to committing a heinous crime against him. Now, you can sit there and pretend that you and Ellie are getting along smashingly, or you can admit that you're as miserable as I am and come back."

Daniel jerked his head back in shock. "How did you know about Ellie?"

"Oh, come on, Daniel. Do you really think that someone who's worked in this business as long as I have could _not_ know that she's hell on earth? Just seeing her is enough to make you jealous of a blind man who hasn't experienced the horror."

Daniel nodded his head and looked at the floor. "She does look like my great grandfather."

"Exactly. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She turned to leave when Daniel jumped from his seat.

"Wait a second. Are you implying that you actually miss having me around?"

Wilhelmina shrugged. "Well at least when I screw with you I get a reply. Yesterday, I told Franz that his complexion reminded me of something an octogenarian would gum down for breakfast, and all he did was sputter a 'how dare you' and ran off."

Daniel looked disgusted. "Man, even I could've done better."

"Oh, right, and what would you have said?"

"I would've told you that your fur stole reminds me of a dog I once got from the shelter as a kid" Daniel said, trying his best to look cocky.

Wilhelmina smiled. "That was as weak as Marc's back bone but at least you tried." She walked into the hallway and Daniel followed.

"So, basically, you're in a hopeless situation right now. If I come back tomorrow morning, can you promise to be a nicer shade of bitchy?" he asked, grinning at her.

Wilhelmina cocked her brow. "Daniel, get serious; you're coming back because you like my shade of bitchy, and you enjoyed it when I made you feel small and insignificant in the past because you like proving yourself to people-like a seven year old riding a bike without training wheels."

Now it was Daniel's turn to raise his eyebrow. "Oh, and you're the one who came groveling to me because…?"

Wilhelmina sucked in an annoyed breath, knowing she would regret this day for the rest of her life. Finally she spoke. "I came here…because I realized that I like knowing you after all."

Daniel jerked his head back in shock. He had expected her to say something like "I came here because I couldn't find Marc and I was looking forward to the possibility that I could make a giant ass out of you", but she didn't. This was almost as shocking as the one time last year when she had apologized to him-he had kept track in case it was the only time. He cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes.

"Well…then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"I guess."

She paused for a brief second, and then turned, gliding down the hallway. Daniel watched her go, hearing the sound of her shoes stepping into the elevator and the door sliding shut. He closed his apartment door and picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

"Mannheim? This is Daniel Meade. Listen, about the Editor-in-Chief position-"

"Oh, you've accepted!"

Daniel paused. "No, actually, I've realized it isn't right for me. I already belong somewhere else."

Mannheim sucked in a deep breath. "Well, Meade, I'm sorry you've made that choice" he said, in a gruff voice.

Daniel nodded. "I'm not; things weren't quite working out like you promised."

"Well, then I hope you realize soon enough what a mistake you're making" Mannheim said, hanging up on Daniel.

Daniel listened to the hum of the dial tone in his ear before replacing the phone in its holder. He sat back on his couch and looked out the window. "Actually, Mannheim, I think this might be the best decision I've made so far" he said quietly to himself.

*****

Daniel was amazed how many people were glad to see him the next morning. From what he gathered from Betty, Franz not only looked horrendous, he smelled like a plate of tacos. He placed his things on the table in the conference room, waiting for everyone to arrive. He was glad he'd made the decision to come back, although his mom was still too upset with him to show it. He sat down and fiddled with his tie when he heard someone beside him.

"Daniel" Wilhelmina said, by way of greeting, as she sat down next to him.

"Willie," he said in return, "you're looking well rested. I hope your little trip to my slice of hell didn't rob you of the energy required to make me look like an idiot."

She smirked down at her papers as everyone was taking their seat. "Doesn't take much effort on my part, you do most of the work yourself."

Daniel chuckled as he stood, straightening his jacket. "Thank-you to everyone for the warm welcome this morning; I'm glad to be back, and I've already got an idea for our March cover."

"Oh, Ramen noodles maybe?" Wilhelmina muttered, standing up beside him.

He did his best to stifle a laugh so that no one would think he was a total loser. "No, actually…I got a hold of Adriana Lima. Apparently, she's excited to be returning to modeling, since this would be her first cover since she had her baby." He looked at Wilhelmina, who actually looked completely shocked. She cleared her throat and turned to face everyone.

"Well, since that's settled I guess there's not much else we have to say. You're dismissed."

Everyone got up and filed out of the conference room. Wilhelmina was gathering her things together when she turned to Daniel.

"How did you know about Adriana Lima?" she asked, raising her brow.

Daniel grinned to himself, feeling pretty good about his handling of the March cover situation. "Well, let's just say that I heard Marc and Amanda having a laugh about it this morning. It's pretty easy to get information out of them in exchange for a couple dollars."

Wilhelmina picked up her papers and they made their way down the hallway together. "Well, I must admit that I'm impressed. I'm glad we could reach a unanimous agreement."

Daniel smiled at her. "Uh huh; anything else you want to add to that?"

Wilhelmina gritted her teeth, but an involuntary smirk crept onto her lips. "Glad to be able to hate you again, Meade."

"Hate; is that really the word for it?"

She rolled her eyes; he was loving this. "Maybe not, but that's what we're gonna call it."

Daniel smiled at her. "Fine by me" he said as they parted ways. He took one last look over his shoulder. Wilhelmina turned her head and did something that caught him by surprise.

She winked.


End file.
